Dead or Alive: Anything Goes
by Kuragari no Oshiego
Summary: Crossover between Dead or Alive and Ranma. Rated M because of violence and maybe adult themes later.
1. Prologue

Dead or Alive: Anything Goes Prologue

Author's notes

Ok, I've combined chapters 1 and 2, added a bit and then revised and rewrote some stuff to make a prologue. Also, since I've only read up through vol. 26, the one with Ryu, the story is set directly after the Ryu story arc.

A few notes about this story before you read it:

This story is a crossover between Dead or Alive and Ranma ½.

Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz comics. Dead or Alive belongs to Tecmo.

There are two characters in this story by the name of Kasumi; therefore Kasumi from Ranma ½ will be referred to as 'Kasumi-san'

End Author's Notes

"Damn rain," Ranma groused as she hurried along the fence, eager to be out of the sudden thunderstorm.

"We would have been home already if you hadn't of started another fight with poor Ryoga," said Akane who running along next to him, but on the sidewalk.

"Me start it?" Ranma said incredulously, "He attacked me!"

"Oh sure, that what you always… say…" Akane trailed off because Ranma had stopped, and was staring at something. "What is it?"

" Battle Auras…big ones. Can't you sense them?" Ranma hopped down off the fence, and started running back the way she came.

Akane, who couldn't sense anything, grew angry. "Yeah right!" She screamed. "I bet this is just a cover up so you can go visit your 'cute' fiancée or that bimbo Shampoo! Well, I don't care!" Akane turned around and stomped back home.

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Kasumi jumped out of the way as something crashed into the ground where she'd been standing. A tall man in a black leather ninja suit jumped up and looked around. "There!" He shouted as he spotted Kasumi and began to attack her.

"I don't want to fight." Kasumi said as she dodged and blocked Hayabusa's furious attack. "Let me go. Please Hayabusa-san!"

Hayabusa broke off his attack and jumped back. "I can not do that," he said. "I promised your brother I wouldn't let you die. Remember, the way of the shinobi is a harsh one." He said before he attacked her again.

He caught Kasumi in the abdomen with a quick jump kick, knocking the wind out of her, but she grabbed his leg and threw him. The ninja slammed into a tree, shoulder first. He slowly got up and tried moving his shoulder. 'It's already stiffening,' Hayabusa thought. 'It will be useless soon. I have to finish this quick.' He charged Kasumi, who had assumed a defensive stance. Something red flickered in the corner of Kasumi's eye. Her concentration broke for only a split second but it allowed Hayabusa to grab her with his good arm and throw her into the air. He jumped after Kasumi, caught her in a bear hug and smashed her into the ground as he landed. Hayabusa got back up but Kasumi did not. Hayabusa sighed in relief. He'd won. Now he could keep his promise to Kasumi's brother. "Your safe now, Kasumi." He said.

Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the rain. She was a short pretty girl with a red pigtail, wearing a baggy, red and black Kung-Fu uniform. She stared daggers at Hayabusa and said, "Step away from the girl if you don't want to get hurt."

"Who are you? And why do you care about Kasumi?" Hayabusa responded.

"I just don't like assholes like you beating up girls, that's all. Oh, and my name is Ranma Saotome of the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial arts."

"Well, Saotome, this is none of your business, and I doubt you could hurt me." The ninja retorted.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" And with that Ranma launched herself at Hayabusa. The surprised Hayabusa was hit full in the face by Ranma's jump kick. Ranma landed with a smirk as Hayabusa went tumbling head over heels. Ranma snickered. "Not so confidant now, are ya?" she said as Hayabusa struggled to his feet. She came at Hayabusa again with a furious barrage of punches. With an injured arm, Hayabusa couldn't hope to block the punches that were coming at him at over a hundred a second. Ranma finish with a roundhouse that sent Hayabusa flying. He smacked into a tree and slid to the ground, where he lay still.

Ranma trotted over to the girl. Kasumi's eyes fluttered open. "Don't worry," Ranma said, "I'm going to take you to a doctor."

"No…please…please no doctors…" She managed to say before she lapsed back into unconsciousness.

--------------------------------------------

Ranma, back in his male form, was sitting in his room staring at the rooms only other occupant, the strange girl who he had rescued (he had laced his father's sake with knockout drops and the dumped him in the closet). The girl sneezed and Ranma got up and started pacing around the room. She was already running a high fever and Ranma knew that unless she was warmed up soon she risked catching pneumonia. The problem was that getting her warm would involve striping her of her wet clothes. He could just imagine asking one of the other people in the house:

"Boy! Akane is your fiancée!" Followed by Demon-head.  
"Ranma! You jerk!" Followed by mallet.  
"Well I suppose I could help you out…for a price." Followed by the emptying of his wallet.

Ranma frowned. That left one person but Kasumi-san was making dinner and it would be pretty suspicious of him to bring Kasumi-san up to his room, since he never paid much attention to her usually.

So his only choice was to do it himself. Ranma glanced down at her again. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, which was saying something since no less than four gorgeous women pursued him. She had long auburn hair and pretty almond shaped eyes, not to mention her stunning body. He blushed just thinking about undressing her. He couldn't do it.

But then she moaned "Onii-chan…" and a tear leaked from her eye. It felt like someone seized Ranma's heart. Before he knew what he was doing he had stripped off her long white stockings and shinobi outfit. After he was finished he covered her back up with a dry blanket and slumped against the wall, exhausted.

"Ranma! Dinner!" a voice called up the stairs. Ranma was puzzled for a moment on whether or not to leave the girl alone but eventually his growling stomach won the fight. 'Besides,' Ranma thought, 'it would be suspicious of me not to go down.'

Ranma returned from a relatively peaceful dinner since his father was still knocked out in a closet. Ranma went over and checked out his patient. She still had a fever but it felt cooler. He went and got a cold washcloth to lie on her head. As he was laying it on her head her arms suddenly shot out and grabbed Ranma around the neck. "Onii-chan," she murmured sounding relieved. A blushing Ranma quickly pried her hands from around his neck. He moved his futon to what he judged to be a safe distance and soon fell into a restless sleep.

After Ranma woke, he sat up and noticed Kasumi's eyes flutter open. She looked around for a few seconds before she sat up quickly enough that her blanket flew from her chest. Ranma turned his head away so fast his neck cricked, pinching nose to stifle the blood that had risen with the blush. 'Who am I, Ryoga?' he thought sourly.

Kasumi looked around. "Where am I?" she said as her eyes fixed on Ranma. "And who are you?" She looked around warily. "Where is Hayabusa?"

"Um…before I answer you…would you mind covering your self up?" He tossed one of his red Chinese shirts at her.

Kasumi glanced down at her nakedness and, with a slight blush, pulled the shirt on. "And why am I naked?" She gazed at him coolly.

After establishing some control over himself, Ranma scooted closer to her and answered. "You're at the Tendo Dojo, where I'm staying. I'm Ranma Saotome. I don't know who Hayabusa is but I'm guessing he's the jerk I left K.O.ed in the forest. Oh, and your naked because your clothes were soaked and you were gonna catch a cold. I-I took them off. Sorry." Ha looked away, blushing again.

Kasumi's gaze turned from cold to astonished. "You beat Hayabusa…to save me?"

Ranma blushed and shrugged. "It was no big deal…" he mumbled.

Kasumi grabbed his hand with her two smaller ones and looked at him earnestly. "It's a big deal to me." She said.

Ranma froze and as a consequence he and Kasumi were still in the same position when Akane stomped into his room shouting, "Get your lazy butt up outta bed or we'll be late."

:3

A little pig swam up to the shore. He looked around and promptly let out a high-pitched squeal. (Translation: "Where the hell am I?") The little pig opened a backpack, which he had miraculously dragged ashore, and pulled out a match, a camp stove and a flask of water. He lit the stove and waited for the water to heat up. The little black pig dumped the hot water on itself and became a fanged, muscular young man. Ryoga threw on some clothes and asked again, "Where the hell am I?" He stomped around the beach, kicking up sand and knocking down trees, bellowing with rage. "Why does this always happen!?"

Suddenly, a black man wearing only sunglasses and a long white pair of shorts, came running down the beach toward Ryoga. "Hey man, whatta ya think your doing to ma island?" He said as he skidded to a halt next to Ryoga.

"Your…island?" Ryoga repeated. "Then you must know where I am!" Ryoga grabbed Zach by the shoulders and started shaking him back and forth. "Tell me where I am! Where's Nerima?"

As Ryoga quite literally tried to shake some information out of Zach. A tall, blond woman wearing nothing but a sheet that was lazily wound around her, strolled down the beach towards them. "Zach, baby, what's going on?" she said.

Zach, having escaped Ryoga's grasp, turned around and grinned. "Tina!" he said and then kissed her passionately. Ryoga's brain shut down as he watched the two lovers make out, and, as a result, nobody saw a large bearded man huff and puff his way to the top of a hill that was opposite the direction Tina and Zach had come from.

"Tina-chan!" he shouted at the top of his lungs and then ran down the hill and across the beach. Zach turned around only to body slammed by Bass. He flew out over the ocean into the horizon. Bass looked at Tina lovingly. "Tina-chan…"

Tina slapped him. "What the hell do you think your doing? Zach was gonna get me a movie role you big jackass!"

"B-But Tina…" responded the hurt Bass.

"But? But? Why don't you just butt out of my life?" She screamed.

Bass started to get angry. "Listen young lady that's no way to talk to you father! Why in my day-"

"Um…I don't mean to interrupt, but can somebody tell me where I am?" Ryoga interrupted.

Bass spun around. "Another bastard trying to get their hands on Tina?"

"N-no…no!" Ryoga shouted while backing away from the crazed Bass.

"I'll kill ya!" Bass shouted. He viciously punched Ryoga in the side of the head and then kneed him in the stomach. Ryoga doubled over and bass smashed his fist into the top of Ryoga's head, sending him crashing into the ground. Bass then grabbed Ryoga by the leg, spun around and threw him towards the hill that he had descended moments ago. Ryoga slammed into the hill with devastating force. The hill started to collapse and Ryoga was buried beneath and avalanche of dirt and rocks.

Tina gasped in horror. "Father! What were you thinking? You prob'ly killed him!"

"Sorry, Tina." Bass said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know he was such a wimp. Why would you get together with someone so weak?"

"Whoever said I was getting together with him? I don't even know the guy!" Tina shouted.

"Really?" Asked a puzzled Bass.

"Of course not!" Tina looked at the pile of dirt Ryoga was buried underneath and her eyes narrowed. "Hey, is it just me or is that pile glowing?"

Bass spun around and stared at the pile. It seemed as though a green glow was emanating from it. Bass had just enough time to wonder what the hell was going on when the mound of dirt exploded with a muffled "Shi Shi Hakodon." Out of the cloud of dirt a green beam darted out and slammed into Bass. He was lifted up and slammed into a tree. As Bass slid toward unconsciousness he had time for one final thought. 'Tina…'

Ryoga stood up and tried to dust off his clothes. He calmly straitened his headband and walked up to Tina. He glared at her as he growled three words. "Where. Am. I?"

Tina glared back. "What did you do to my father?" She cracked her knuckles. "I'll have to teach you what happens when you mess with an Armstrong!"

Ryoga casually waved his hand. "Look, I don't fight women. Just tell me where I am so I can be on my way."

Tina's glare just intensified. She kicked away her sheet so it wouldn't restrict her movement and adopted a fighting stance. But then she blinked and looked around. Ryoga wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where'd he go?" She didn't see Ryoga anywhere but she did see a little black pig floating unconscious near the shoreline. "Oh, poor thing!" She dove into the sea and pulled the pig out. She cradled it in her arms and walked over to check on her father. She checked is vital signs at determined that he was alive. As she turned to head back up the beach, she saw a piece of paper sticking out of her father's back pocket. She snatched it and quickly read it. Tina smiled in satisfaction. This could be an excellent opportunity for some publicity.

--------------------------------------

Akane stomped into Ranma's room shouting, "Get your lazy butt up outta bed or we'll be late!" But, she stopped dead in her tracks when saw the scene in front of her.

Ranma had his hand clasped by a beautiful woman, who was only wearing a shirt, whom Akane had never seen before.

Ranma was holding hands with a strange, scantily clad woman.

Ranma was _inappropriately touching_ a _naked hussy_.

Akane was enraged by the time her mental process had finished. She whipped out a mallet, and with an inarticulate scream, she sent Ranma smashing though a wall and out into the Tendo's lawn.

The 'hussy' jumped up and shouted in surprise. "What the hell do you think your doing?"

Akane rounded on her and narrowed her eyes. "You!" she growled. She dropped her mallet and swung at Kasumi with a vicious haymaker. Kasumi dodged easily, and hit Akane in the stomach with a quick but hard punch. Akane doubled over in pain, gasping for breath. Kasumi then jumped out the hole in the wall to check on Ranma.

----------------------------------------------

Later, the entire household, except for Kasumi-san, who was cooking breakfast, was arrayed around the dining table. Ranma and Kasumi, back in her own clothes, sat on one side with Soun and Akane facing them. A slightly drowsy Genma-panda sat at the end of the table, and Nabiki leaned against the doorframe. Soun took a deep breath and then looked at Ranma. "Do you want to explain why you were molesting this young woman in the room we have so graciously provided—?"

"I wasn't—"Ranma started.

"Don't interrupt me boy." He said sternly. "I want you to provide Akane with a suitable explanation for having this girl up in your room!"

Ranma barked a laugh. "What's wrong Akane? Afraid you might have some competition from a woman who's actually cute?" Nobody noticed that Kasumi's cheeks colored slightly.

Akane stood up, battle aura blazing around her. She stomped to the door and then looked back over her shoulder. "Ranma, as far as I'm concerned this engagement never happened!" She stomped out the door towards the dojo.

"Ranma, do you know what will happen if you leave Akane?" Soun calmly asked, before growing his demon head and booting Ranma out of the house.

A little ways down the street, Kasumi caught up with Ranma and said, "I'm sorry I got you in trouble."

Ranma turned to her and waved the comment off. "Aw, don't worry about it. Akane's always like that. She'll calm down in a few hours. Besides, it's not the first time they've thrown me out without listening to my side of the story."

Kasumi looked at him strangely. "She was quite…passionate."

Ranma chuckled. "Don't worry about the stupid tomboy. Anyway, whatcha doin' in Nerima? Why was that ninja after you?"

Kasumi was debating on whether to tell Ranma of her mission, when she heard a sound she dreaded, a shuriken whistling through the air. She barely dodged in time and the shuriken passed a few inches in front of her face. The shuriken bounced off the sidewalk in a shower of sparks. Kasumi spun around and ran the opposite direction of where the shuriken had come from. "Follow me!" She called over her shoulder.

Kasumi and Ranma ran a complicated route but the pursuers would not be denied. After a few minutes, one of them finally managed to tag Kasumi across the calf with a shuriken. Kasumi stumbled and fell. More shuriken whistled through the air but Ranma jumped in front of Kasumi, and, in a dazzling display of speed, snatched all the shuriken out of the air. The shuriken stopped and six ninja seemed to materialize, surrounding Kasumi and Ranma. Kasumi stumbled back to her feet as one of the ninjas said. "Boy, if you give the girl up peacefully you will be free to go, if you don't…" the ninja trailed off but Ranma had a good idea of what would happen if he didn't.

Ranma rolled his eyes at the cliché threat "Here's my answer!" Ranma leapt into the air and delivered a brutal jump kick to the ninja's chest. The ninja smashed into the wall of a nearby building and slipped down it. He didn't get back up. Ranma's victory was short lived however, because another ninja swiftly kicked him in the back. Ranma lurched forward and into a ninja who punched him in the face. Ranma stumbled back but dodged the katana strike of a third ninja. The two ninjas who had attacked him before likewise drew their katanas and advanced on him. Ranma's lightning-fast reflexes kept him from being slashed to ribbons, but he had no chance to strike back at his attackers.

He chanced a look at Kasumi. She seemed to be holding her own against the other ninjas until she leaned to hard on her injured leg and it collapsed under her. Ranma immediately knew that she was dead if he didn't do something. He thrust out a hand and shouted, "Mouko Takabisha!" A white blast shot out from his hand and knocked the ninja's feet out from under him. He flipped backward and smacked his head hard on the pavement. Ranma's action was not without consequence, however, as one of the ninjas thrust with is katana in an attempt to skewer Ranma with his katana. Ranma twisted at the last minute and instead of the katana going through him; it cut a gash along one of his ribs. Ranma gasped in pain but managed to dodge the other ninja's strike.

One of the ninja broke off his attack on Ranma to help his cohort attack Kasumi. Ranma took advantage of this and with a burst of speed, he unleashed a flurry a punches at one of the ninjas. The barrage sent the unfortunate ninja to join his friend on the pavement. The other ninja tried to decapitate Ranma from behind, but the young martial artist spun around and clapped the blade between his hands.

Ranma and the ninja both strained but neither could wrench the katana from the other's grip. Sweat pored into Ranma's eyes, stinging them. His adrenaline drained out of him and he dropped to one knee, completely exhausted. Time seemed to stretch out. Each ragged breath sent a jolt of agony up his side. His arm's started to cramp. Ranma wondered how much longer he could possibly last.

Luckily he never had to find out, because that moment Hayabusa appeared running full tilt toward where Ranma and the ninja were stalemated. Hayabusa jumped over the ninja's head and lashed back with his foot, smashing the ninja in the face. The ninja collapsed in a heap, and Hayabusa rushed to Kasumi's aid.

Ranma grit his teeth, and through sheer determination, he got back to his feet. Ranma's vision swam but he managed to see that Hayabusa and Kasumi had already finished off the other ninja. He smiled as blackness closed in on him. 'She's safe…' was his last thought as he sank toward unconsciousness.

:3

Akane was ferociously beating a dummy crudely made into the likeness of a certain pigtailed martial artist. With each powerful punch she growled the word "jerk". So engrossed was she in this training, that she did not notice when someone entered the dojo and proceeded to watch her in plain view. Akane continued to punch the dummy, completely oblivious to the stranger, until, after a particularly nasty punch, it broke. Akane started as she heard clapping behind her. She whirled around to find an attractive, purple haired woman clapping. "An impressive display of strength Ms. Tendo." The stranger said. "I am Ayane." Ayane bowed slightly.

"Yeah, well, what do you want?" Akane said gruffly, slightly miffed that she had not noticed the girl before.

"I understand that a woman was here. Her name is Kasumi. She has long auburn hair and was probably wearing a blue kunoichi suit. I need you to tell me where she went." Ayane said pleasantly.

The image of the hussy that had been in Ranma's bed came to mind and reignited Akane's rage. "Why the hell would I care where that bitch went?" she screamed.

"Surely you must remember something of where she went! Even just the direction would be-!"

Akane cut her off. "Hey, you better stop ordering me around or I just might have to teach you a lesson!" Akane shook her fist at Ayane.

Ayane expression was shocked at first but it soon dissolved into a mocking smirk. "You? Teach me? Don't be silly Ms. Tendo. I am trying to be polite but if I must, I'll extract the information from you in a less…pleasant way."

Akane lunged at her. Ayane dodged easily and Akane slammed into the dojo wall. "My, you sure taught that wall a lesson." Ayane laughed. Akane jumped back to her feet and threw herself furiously at Ayane. She attacked with a brutal combination of kicks and punches but Ayane danced around them all effortlessly, never losing that condescending smile. 'She's as fast as Ranma! She thinks she's so great too! I'll show them!' She redoubled her efforts but to no avail, she couldn't even touch Ayane.

Eventually Ayane sighed in regret. "I'm sorry to stop our little fight so soon, but I have more pressing matters." With shocking speed she whipped around one of Akane's punches and backhanded her across the face. Akane was sent smashing into a corner of the dojo. She struggled back to her feet and glared with undisguised loathing at Ayane. "You show surprising resilience, Ms. Tendo. If you want to finish this come find me." She flipped a piece of paper towards Akane and it settled on the ground not far away from her. Ayane sighed again. "I guess my vengeance will just have to wait for tournament." Then she disappeared through the doorway.

Akane stumbled over and picked up the paper. She read it quickly and stared at the door that Ayane had disappeared through. She crushed the paper in her fist.

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"Great-Grandmother! Is news from home!" Shampoo said, bouncing into the room where Cologne had just finished her soaps.

Cologne took the letter and opened it, revealing a single slip of paper, she read it with a growing look of horror spreading across her features.

"What wrong?" Shampoo asked, concerned.

Cologne set aside the letter and her look of horror was traded for one of sadness and weariness, she leaned back with her eyes closed. "An evil has returned to the land." She said. "Shampoo, we will be leaving tomorrow morning."

:3

Ranma regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the unpleasant metallic taste in his mouth. He opened eyes, and found that he was still laying on the asphalt where he had fought the ninjas. He sat up and groaned. His whole body ached. He felt the wound on his side. It had stopped bleeding but probably needed stitches. He stood up and looked around, then gasped in horror and his memories came flooding back. He had fainted, leaving Kasumi with Hayabusa! Why on Earth had he thought that Kasumi was safe? He looked around and started. Hayabusa was laying, out cold, just a few feet away from him. The ninjas where all there too, but there was no sign of Kasumi. Just then he noticed something blowing in the wind. A piece of paper tied to a lamppost with the ribbon Kasumi used to tie back her hair. Ranma could barely make out the words across the top of the paper as it lashed back and forth in the wind. The words said: **Dead or Alive: Martial Arts Tournament.**

Author's Notes

I hope you like it. Please R&R.

Thank you to my pre-readers. Schwarz Bruder, glazedlookineyes101, and Bill. Of course I could always use a couple more.

Also, a note to those of you who think Ranma should be some awesome fighter that wins all of his battles with ease. I believe that since there was never an official DOA/Ranma crossover by the original authors, the 'power levels' if you will, are open to interpretation. So Ranma trained all his life with his father. Who's to say the ninja didn't? If I made Ranma some kind of super martial artist that none of the DOA characters had a hope of winning against then this story would cease to be entertaining.

Thank you for reading,

Kuragari no Oshiego


	2. Round One, Part One

Author's notes

Well, here it finally is. I didn't write it for so long because I had a horribly chaotic year and every time I would get started I was frustrated because I didn't feel it was doing justice to the visions I had for this story. Yet, every time I looked at the wonderful reviews I have gotten for this story I felt shame. Horrible shame. So, even though I wish it were better I have decided to continue this fanfic. Please forgive me for taking so long.

End Author's Notes

'No,' thought Ranma. 'I don't like this at all.' Specifically, he didn't like where he was: an abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of Kyoto city, and what he liked even less was that he was surrounded by thirty or so kick-boxers. He wondered again what possessed him to come here. Kasumi's face floated up into his mind causing him to grimace. How long had he known her? Less than a day. Yet here he was because the note he had gotten said that if he ever wanted to see her again he would show up here for a martial arts match. Ranma felt at the cut the ninja had given him, his first serious injury in a while, and wondered what he had gotten himself into. The crowd abruptly parted, and amongst much cheering, a tall black man with a green Mohawk sauntered into the circle made by the kick-boxers. He said, "You ready for Zach?" and let off four low-kicks, which judging by the crowd's reaction, were blindingly quick to most people. Ranma casually adopted a neutral fighting stance and waited for his opponent. He didn't have to wait long, however; Zach attacked with a flurry of punches that Ranma easily avoided and followed up with those same four low-kicks. Ranma leaped over the kicks and smashed both feet into Zach's face. The kick-boxer reeled and then fell over, out cold.

"That's it?" Ranma said with disbelief. The crowd started to mutter angrily and Ranma heard words like 'cheat' start to be flung about. "Hey! I won that fight fair and square! He was just weak!" Ranma realized a second too late that he had just insulted their hero. The crowd began to close in on him.

:3

Ryoga woke up and attempted to rub the bleariness from his eyes. When he couldn't manage to reach his eyes he remembered that he was a pig. He scrambled to his feet and looked around. It seemed as though he were in a hotel room but he couldn't remember coming here. Then Tina flashed through his mind. He thought on the past two days with horror. The cage, the plane ride, the extensive loss of blood! He shuddered and hopped down to the ground, looking for a faucet. He found it and nosed it on causing him to transform into his true, human self. From his new perspective he noticed that a pile of his clothes rested on the window sill. That was strange since Tina thought he was a real pig, but he didn't question his good fortune and quickly got dressed. Underneath his clothes were two pieces of paper, one was a flyer for a martial arts tournament and the other was a letter that read:

_Dear Mr. Hibiki _

_ You have been cordially invited to participate in the Dead or Alive Martial Arts Championship Tournament. Only 32 of the best martial artists in the world are invited to participate. The grand prize will be 10 million yen. Your first opponent should be arriving shortly. If you win, you will be contacted by one of our agents about your next match. _

_Good Luck, _

_ DOATEC _

_P.S. If you are still hesitant to participate, it may interest you to know that one Ranma Saotome is participating and the winner will receive a panacea that is said to cure all maladies, even curses. _

Ryoga read through the letter with growing excitement. He had little use for that much money but the panacea! And Ranma was trying to get his filthy hands on it. Well, Ryoga couldn't stand for that! Then he remembered something from the letter. His opponent would be arriving soon? The door opened and Tina stepped through. Tina and Ryoga looked at each other and both gasped, "You!"

Tina acted first and threw a ferocious punch at Ryoga which he easily dodged. "What the hell are doing in my room!?" she shrieked as she attacked him with a barrage of punches.

"H-hang on! I can explain!" Ryoga said, embarrassed.

The punches stopped and Tina said, "Well, explain."

Ryoga looked down at his hands and tried to come up with a plausible lie, "Well, you see…."

Tina smirked and used this opportunity to sucker punch Ryoga. Unfortunately for her, punching Ryoga was like punching a brick wall. She pulled back her bruised fingers with a cry of pain and saw that Ryoga hadn't even noticed that he'd been hit. Enraged, she charged him and leapt into the air intent on tackling him. Ryoga detected her at the last minute and reflexively ducked. Tina soared over Ryoga's head and smashed through a window. Ryoga hustled over to the window and saw that Tina had landed in a dumpster. "S-sorry…"

:3

After making sure that Akane was still seated a few rows ahead of her, Ukyo settled back into her seat. She had spied Akane entering the train station on the way home from school and it immediately piqued her curiosity since neither Ranma nor Akane had been to school. That, plus the fact the Akane looked furious, led to Ukyo surmising that this had something to do with Ranma. She decided to follow Akane when she remembered that the hardheaded girl often went off to "rescue" Ranma without considering that there may be others who cared about Ranma's welfare. Ukyo steamed, remembering all the times Ranma had gotten into some trouble and nobody bothered to tell her. She was broken out of her reverie by a polite, "Are you Ms. Ukyo Kounji?"

She looked up to see a young stewardess holding a letter out to her. She took the letter with a "Thank you" and began to read through it. A martial arts tournament? 10 million yen! Ranma and Akane were participating, eh? Her first opponent was—! Ukyo smiled with grim satisfaction.

It was dark by the time the train finally got to Kyoto. Akane got off the train and was still thinking about the note that one of the train stewardesses had given her when she heard someone call, "Akane!"

Akane turned around slowly and coolly said, "Ukyo. I suppose you got a letter too?"

"Sure did."

"Shall we take this somewhere quieter?" Akane noticed that Ukyo was glancing nervously at the baggage that was being unloaded from the train. "Did they make you check your spatula? Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be here when you get back…or do you think you need to beat me?" Akane said with mock innocence.

"Yeah right." Ukyo growled. "Let's go."

They walked through the streets until they found an overgrown, empty parking lot. "This'll do." Akane said. Ukyo and Akane stared at one another for a few moments before Akane made the first move. She kicked high but Ukyo deftly knocked aside and countered with her own kick that caught Akane on the chest. Akane stumbled back a few steps and then straightened up. "Not bad."

"If you think I need my spatula to beat _you_, you're sadly mistaken." Ukyo sneered.

Incensed, Akane came at Ukyo with an onslaught of punches and kicks. A few hit but Ukyo dodged or blocked the majority and countered whenever she got an opening. They went on like this for quite some time until Ukyo whipped around one of Akane's punches and elbowed her in the back of the head. Akane stumbled forward and Ukyo went on the offensive, pummeling Akane with a multitude of blows that ended with Akane flat on her back. Ukyo stood over her and said, "You can't win, honey."

Akane felt despair. Again, despite her best efforts she had lost. She used to be the best martial artist around and now she was one of the worst. Rage started to replace despair. And whose fault was that? Ranma's! All these martial artists had shown up because of him, martial artists she couldn't match. But it wasn't fair! I mean, it wasn't her fault that she hadn't gone on a ten year training trip or grown up in an Amazon village. She tightened her fists and noticed that there was gravel clenched in her grasp.

Fueled by fury, she flung the gravel into Ukyo's eyes.

:3

Ranma limped towards the train station, cursing the jerk kick-boxers who'd ganged up on him. He was almost there when he heard a scream. 'Hey, that sounded like Ukyo.' Wounds (which were mostly psychological anyway) promptly forgotten, he hurried towards the sound. What he saw was that last thing he would have expected. Ukyo was flat on her back furiously scrubbing at her eyes and Akane was standing over her. Ranma, shocked, stopped short and watched as Akane lifted her foot and attempted to stomp on Ukyo's chest. Ukyo somehow managed to jerk her torso to the side in time but that put her arm into the line of fire. With a sickening crunch, Akane crushed Ukyo's forearm. The crunch seemed to break Akane out of her murderous rage. She looked with horror at Ukyo's mangled arm and heard a soft, "Akane…" Akane looked up and saw Ranma staring at her, obviously in shock

"Ranma…I didn't…I didn't mean to…" Akane, tears flooding her eyes, fled.

Ranma almost went after her but a whimper from Ukyo as she climbed to her feet reminded him that he had a more urgent matter to attend to. He scooped Ukyo up in his arms and set out to find a hospital.

:3

The monster dropped Lime from his grasp and Herb hustled over to check his vitals. He was dead. A livid Herb stood back up and prepared to avenge his fallen subordinate. As he attacked, he thought on the events that had led him here. He had received a letter inviting him and his two cohorts to participate in a martial arts tournament, promising that if he won, his curse would be healed. They had set off immediately and when they arrived, a ninja and a Japanese youth by the name of Ryu had been waiting, they were Mint and Herb's opponents respectively. Herb had quickly defeated his opponent but Mint was beaten bad enough that Herb had decided to hospitalize him. Lime had received a note in the hospital that had told him his opponent was waiting here, Herb had come along to watch. Lime's opponent was a monster of a man by the name of Raidou. Lime's strength was been exceed by this man and, consequently, Lime hadn't a hope of winning. But Raidou hadn't given any quarter and, out of sheer malevolence, snapped Lime's neck.

"Come then, little man." Raidou chortled. Herb leapt into the air and attacked with his 'Soaring Dragon Spirit.' Raidou grunted as the ki blows hit him but he nonetheless reached up and caught Herb by the ankle. He smashed Herb into the ground and then threw him into a concrete wall. Black spots danced in front of Herb's eyes and he felt a large hand wrap around his neck. The last thing he heard was laughter.

:3

As the next stripper entered the stage Bayman knew he had found his adversary. He had been invited to participate in the Dead or Alive martial arts tournament allegedly because of his combat prowess but Bayman knew that it was so they could kill him. The reason DOATEC wanted him dead was two-fold: they owed him money and, more importantly, he knew too much about them and their leader, Donovan. Bayman could see that this stripper was a killer just from the way she moved. DOATEC did always hire the best…Bayman turned to ask the excited kid to his left if he knew the girl.

"Hell yeah man! She's the reason I come here. Her name's Christie," he said as though the name were holy.

"How long has she been here?"

"I don't know. A couple of weeks?"

Bayman nodded, he was sure now. Bayman watched her dance, trying to determine how much of a threat she was. Christie finished her routine and Bayman waited patiently. Sure enough, Christie made her way over too him and sexily purred into his ear, "Hey big man, want a private dance?"

Bayman stood up without a word and followed Christie to a private room. She sat him down on a chair and straddled him, with one arm around his shoulders she started grinding her pelvis against his. Bayman ignored this and noticed that the other hand was missing. He caught it before her stiffened fingers could crush his windpipe. He flung her off himself and stood up. "Is this the best they could do? An assassin that uses sex to get a man to lower his guard?"

"You'll see I can do much more that that." She struck at him with her fingers again stiffened making her hand resemble a snake. Bayman caught her hand and punched her in the armpit, dislocating her shoulder.

"Pitiful." Bayman stalked towards Christie and proceeded to beat her unconscious.

:3

Ranma had left Ukyo once she had gotten into see a doctor and he was now wandering the halls the hospital, thinking on what he had seen. 'I always wondered what would happen if Akane lost her temper at someone who couldn't defend themselves as well as me…' A few doctors rushed passed him with a man on a gurney who was absolutely destroyed. Ranma whistled, "I haven't seen anybody that beat-up in a long time…"

"No kidding." A nurse answered.

"Any idea what happened?"

"That happened." The nurse pointed towards a waiting bench where a girl was being questioned by two policemen.

"Kasumi!?"

Author's Notes 

Review please! It's what shamed me into writing this. ;)

I also need pre-reader since I'm too embarrassed to ask my old ones…


	3. Round One, Part Two

Author's Notes

Well, that were quick, don't expect it often.

End Author's Notes

"Who knows?" Ayane said.

"What kind of answer is that!? This note says that if I fight in this tournament, I'll find out who killed my mother!" Helena screamed back.

Ayane giggled and said, "Maybe it was me."

"What!?"

"Then again, maybe it wasn't."

"Fine," Helena sniffed. "If you won't tell it to me straight I guess I'll have to beat it out of you."

"You're welcome to try."

Helena attacked with a punch that Ayane dodged easily, but Ayane didn't notice that Helena's other hand was already chopping down. Helena hit Ayane on the top of her head, and then delivered and open handed blow to the stunned girl, sending her flying across the room. Ayane managed to land on her feet and block the three kicks Helena aimed her way. The kunoichi countered with a blow to the stomach and then and uppercut that threw Helena into the air. She landed on her back hard but quickly scrambled to her feet. Unfortunately for her, Ayane was already behind her. The ninja pressed her back against Helena's, grabbed her forearms and leapt into the air. Ayane landed with both feet planted firmly in Helena's back. She stepped off the blond woman and drew her foot back for the finishing blow but Helena grabbed her ankle.

"W-wait…" she said, blood dripping from her mouth.

Ayane hesitated a moment and then kneeled down next to Helena and said, "You've impressed me, so I'll tell you what I know."

"P-please…" Helena managed.

"Nothing!" Ayane stood up, cackling. "I don't even know who your mother is and I'm nothing so low as an assassin for hire. Like you, I was led here by the promise that someone I'm looking for is competing in this tournament." And with a swirl of dust, she was gone.

:3

Ein, after leaving his defeated opponent, a strange fellow by the name of Pantyhose Taro, at the door of a hospital, began the long walk back to his hotel. He had come to Japan hoping to regain his lost memories but so far fights were all that he had found. He was shaken out of his reverie when something crashed into him. He looked down to see a disheveled young woman staring up at him. She sobbed once before fainting dead away. Alarmed, Ein picked her up and checked to see if she was okay. 'She must have been through a lot. She's exhausted.' Ein decided to take her back to his hotel room since he didn't want to get involved with the police, and… for some reason he felt reluctant to part from the girl. "Maybe it's fate that we met here," he chuckled.

Not wanting anyone to see him carrying and unconscious girl up to his room in the middle of the night, Ein opted to let himself in through the window. He laid the girl on his bed and proceeded to brew up some tea. After a time the girl awakened and sat up mumbling, "Was it all a dream…?"

"Was what a dream?" Ein asked.

The girl started and shrieked, "Who are you!?"

"I'm the guy you tried to run down a little while ago." He handed her a mug of tea. "You fainted and I brought you back here."

"O-oh…" she blushed. "Um…thank you. My name is Akane Tendo."

"You can call me Ein. So… you want to tell me about that not-a-dream?"

Akane sipped her tea. "Why do you care?"

Ein shrugged. "You seemed pretty distressed when you ran into me. I want to know if I can help."

"You're being awfully nice," Akane said suspiciously.

"Well, kindness is the reason I'm alive right now. A German man and his daughter found me half-dead and with no memories of whom I was or where I came from. They nursed me back to health for no reason at all. I've learned from their example."

"Oh," Akane said sheepishly. "Well you probably won't want to help me after I tell you what I did."

"Try me."

"I did something horrible, to someone who didn't deserve." Tears sprang to her eyes. "And the last person on Earth I would have wanted to see me do that, saw." She started to sob.

Ein waited for her to calm down and said, "Why don't you tell me the whole story?"

:3

Kuno leveled his bokken and said, "My dear sister, you don't stand a chance. I shall win this tournament for love!" He looked off into the distance and could picture Akane and the pig-tailed girl running to him and jumping into his arms. Yes, if he won this tournament and beat Saotome, the girls would surely date with him.

"You're delusional, brother darling." Kodachi said as she leapt into the air. She came down striking repeatedly with her ribbon but Kuno easily countered her blows. He attacked with his own blindingly fast barrage of bokken strikes that forced her to retreat.

Kodachi threw out her arm and shouted, "Look, it's the pigtailed girl."

"Truly!?" Kuno shouted as he spun around.

"I'm afraid not brother." Kuno turned back around to see a bouquet of black roses thrust in his face.

"What is the meaning of this!?" he shouted as gas started spewing from the roses. He brought his wooden sword down hard on his sister's head, knocking her unconscious, before succumbing to the blackness as well.

:3

Cologne, Shampoo, and Mousse stepped off the train and were immediately accosted by a young Chinese woman. "Shampoo, is it really you!?"

"Leifang! What you do here?" Shampoo shrieked happily as the two girls hugged.

"I came to Kyoto because he," Leifang jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "wanted to participate in some tournament, so I decided I would as well."

Shampoo looked at the lanky man the Leifang was gesturing towards. "That man who defeat you?"

"Yup." Lei Feng said proudly.

"He husband yet?"

"No," Leifang said looking downcast. "I've been pursuing Jann Lee for a year now but he refuses to marry me…Speaking of that, have you married your boy yet?"

"No, he too too stubborn."

"Aren't all men?" Leifang said and the girls shared a laugh.

"Well, if you two are done catching up," Cologne interjected, "you may want to get fighting."

"What!?" Leifang and Shampoo shouted in unison.

"That's right; your first match in this tournament is against each other."

"This should be fun," Lei Feng said menacingly.

"You no remember last time? Shampoo win easy." Shampoo smirked.

"I've learned a lot since then." Neglecting to reply, Shampoo launched a jump kick. Lei Feng calmly caught Shampoo by the foot, pivoted and sent her tumbling through the air. "Look like 'Shampoo no win easy.'" Lei Feng mocked.

"Grrr. Shampoo show you." Shampoo said, picking herself up off the ground and resuming her attack.

:3

Cologne turned away from the fight and looked at Mousse. "Your opponent is that man over there," she said pointing at Jann Lee.

"What!?" Mousse exclaimed. "I didn't know I was fighting in this tournament!"

"Well you are, so get to it!"

"Why should I, you old ghoul?"

Cologne leaped up and whacked Mousse with her staff. "Because I said so, boy!" Mousse, grumbling the whole way walked over to Jann Lee. "And my opponent should be showing up just about now…" And then she spotted him on a roof across the street doing what he did best, stealing panties.

Cologne leaped on the roof and said, "Happy, are you ready to fight?"

"Now why would I want to fight you lil' Cologne?" Happosai responded. "I've got to get my silky darlings home."

"Don't give me that! You and I both know you're not in Kyoto just for the panties!"

"That's what you think!" Happosai stuck his tongue out and started to hop away from rooftop to rooftop.

"Happosai, wait! We must fight to see which of should face the evil."

Happosai stopped and looked back at her seriously. "Cologne, I defeated that monster 50 years ago and I could probably do so again, but it's something the next generation must do." He grinned and resumed his usual perverted demeanor. "Besides, I have much more important things to do. There's a yoga class across the street." And he bounced way, leaving Cologne with troubled thoughts.

:3

Shampoo tottered to her feet. "Leifang much much better," she huffed.

"And you're as good as ever." Leifang gasped from her kneeled position.

Shampoo attacked but Leifang grabbed both her hands and began to flip Shampoo over her head. Shampoo had other plans however and with a shouted "Fake!" she grabbed Leifang's wrists and reversed her throw, sending Leifang crashing into a wall. Leifang slid down the wall, out cold. Shampoo sat down hard and exhaled loudly. "Shampoo not get such good workout for too too long."

Jann Lee walked over and looked at Leifang. "Down for the count, eh? You must be pretty good to be able to beat Leifang. I look forward to fighting you."

"Mousse?"

Jann Lee looked over to where Mousse was laying unconscious. "He wasn't too bad, but I don't really respect an opponent that relies on weapons and tricks."

"Mousse pathetic."

"Heh." Jann Lee smiled and started to walk away. "Later."

:3

Ranma ran over to where Kasumi was sitting gasping, "Kasumi, you're okay!" He looked at Kasumi and jerked back in revulsion, her eyes weren't the same. They seemed unnatural somehow, perverting her face.

The police officers turned to look at Ranma and Kasumi used this opportunity to dart past the distracted police officers and out the nearest window. The officers cursed and charged after her.

Ranma was trying to puzzle out what just happened when he heard Ukyo call his name. He turned and noticed that she was wearing an eye patch on her left eye. "What happened?"

"Akane threw gravel in my eyes. Scratched my left eye." Ukyo growled.

Ranma winced. "And the arm?"

"The doctor says it was a fairly clean break so it should heal all right. I'm going to kill Akane for this."

As much as Ranma as interested in what had happened between Ukyo and Akane, he couldn't get his mind off Kasumi. He had to talk to her. He looked at Ukyo, said, "I'll be right back," and jumped out the window after Kasumi.

He found her quickly by jumping between rooftops. She seemed to be running with a destination in mind so Ranma decided to follow her. She ran along for quite some time and then entered an unmarked building.

:3

Kasumi floated naked in a glass tube of some kind of liquid. She didn't know what the liquid was or why she could breathe, but it really didn't matter since she was about to get out. They had been kept her drugged since they had abducted her but the drugs had abruptly stopped and Kasumi didn't intend to waste her opportunity. She drew her hand back and shattered the glass. She leaped out through the falling glass, ignoring the cuts the shards of glass were giving her. When she landed, she came face to face with herself, only it was a perversion of herself. "You abomination!" she screamed. She had watched in a daze as scientists had created a replica of her, horrified but unable to do anything. She attacked the clone ferociously but she was soon frustrated as all her attacks were easily countered.

"That's right. You probably know all my moves, don't you?" The clone just threw her head back and laughed. "I guess I'll have to do something unexpected then." She grabbed the clone by the throat and smashed it's head through a nearby tube. She then slashed it's neck open with one of the sharp edges created by the broken glass. She dropped the atrocity and let it bleed out on the floor. She then proceeded to calmly hunt for some clothes.

Author's Notes

Review! All the encouraging reviews I got really helped me write! If you have any specific suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch with me personally, and I still need prereaders. If you're intrested, my email address is you for reading!


	4. Round Two, Part One

"Genma!" Tears streaming down his eyes, Soun Tendo brandished a letter.

"Soun!" Genma Saotome responded in kind with a letter of his own.

"Both are children have mysteriously disappeared on a training trip! Do you know what this means!?"

Genma and Soun linked arms and danced around in circles. "Our schools will be united!" they shouted in unison.

:3

"Not another girl!" was not something one would expect a man to shout in the presence of a gorgeous brunette like Hitomi.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Hitomi yelled back.

"It means that I don't fight girls yet both my opponents in this tournament so far have been girls." Ryoga snarled.

"Argh! You're just like that asshole Bass that I had to take down. Why do men think girls can't fight!?"

That stopped Ryoga in his tracks. He nervously rubbed his hands together and said, "Well…no, it just doesn't seem right to fight girls. I mean most of the time girls aren't as strong as guys…"

"You damned sexist!" Hitomi dispensed with arguing and kicked Ryoga in the side of the head. He didn't budge. "W-what? You took that kick straight on!"

Ryoga smirked. "It'll take more than that to hurt me."

"Oh yeah!?" Hitomi beat on Ryoga for a few minutes but he never lost ground or his smirk.

"Give it up!" He laughed.

Hitomi stopped and raised one of her hands so that her hand was parallel with her nose. She balled her other hand into a fist and started to concentrate. So focused was Ryoga on her hands that he completely missed the kick that sailed up between his legs. Ryoga cried out and fell to his knees, clutching himself. Hitomi stumbled back howling with laughter. "I didn't think that would actually work! I guess one part of you is still vulnerable!" She doubled over with laughter.

"D-Damn it! You cheap jerk!" Ryoga gasped out.

Wiping tears away, Hitomi squatted down nest to him. "Oh, calm down. I forfeit anyway."

"W-what?"

"It's pretty obvious I can't win. How come you're so much stronger than me anyway?"

Pain fading, Ryoga sat back and considered for a moment. "Well, you're dojo trained, aren't you?"

"So?"

"So, it means I've trained in real life situations, life or death situations. No dojo training can match that. And I'd venture to guess you've never done something as stupid as bashing yourself into boulders for a week straight." Ryoga said bitterly. Wide-eyed, Hitomi shook her head no. "Plus, you're limited by the fact that you practice a single martial art style. What was it?"

"Karate…" Hitomi said looking downcast.

"Yeah, Karate is not a bad martial art, but there is very little ki or air training. In fact the only good single style I can think of is Saotome's damn Anything Goes." Ryoga noticed that Hitomi looked like she was about to cry and said, "H-hey, don't cry! You're actually pretty good. I mean, that trick you pulled on me showed that you're inventive."

"Thanks," Hitomi said. "I never thought about martial arts this way…you're pretty smart."

"Well, I _do_ have a lot of time to think…" Ryoga said gloomily.

"What do mean?"

"Nothing…"

"Well, anyways, I've made up my mind," Hitomi said. She bowed low and said, "My name is Hitomi Hayasaka…"

"Hibiki." Ryoga supplied.

"…Hibiki-sensei, will you please teach me martial arts?"

"What!?"

"You're the best martial artist I've ever seen." 'Plus if I hang around with a great fighter like you I'm bound to run into him,' she thought to herself.

"Look, I can't train you."

"_Please._"

"I can't! You don't know me! I don't ever know where I'll end up even hours ahead, I sometimes go for days with out food, I get into dangerous fights—"

"And that's why you're so tough right?"

"Well, yeah. But it's not like it was easy…"

"I know. Please just give me a chance," Hitomi said, her lip trembling.

"I…I just can't!"

"Pleeeease?"

"No!"

"Come on!"

:3

Ranma was standing in front of the door that Kasumi had just disappeared deciding whether or not to enter, when he heard a deep baritone, "Are you Ranma Saotome?"

He turned around and saw a large Caucasian man stalking towards him. "Who wants to know?"

"I am Bayman, and if you are Saotome, then you are my next opponent."

"You're competing in the Dead or Alive tournament?"

"That's right."

Ranma adopted a loose stance and said, "Well, I hope you're better than my last opponent…"

"I feel the same." They stared for a few seconds before Ranma attacked with a jump kick. Bayman snapped up his forearm and blocked the kick but Ranma kicked out with his other foot and caught Bayman in the ribs. Bayman was quick to respond however, catching Ranma's leg and throwing him back towards the building the Kasumi had entered. Ranma somersaulted in midair and bounced off the wall and into a handspring that allowed him to double-kick Bayman in the chin. Bayman stumbled back a few steps and, rubbing blood from the corner of his mouth, said, "Not bad."

"You certainly take punishment better than my last opponent…" Ranma said.

:3

After determining that her clothes were not in the building, Kasumi reluctantly accepted that she must wear the clone's outfit. At least the black jumpsuit hid the blood. As she got dressed Kasumi contemplated the recent events. Who were the people that cloned her? Why had they allowed her to witness them create the thing? Why had the drugs stopped? Why had the clone returned just in time? The only conclusion that made any sense was that that they had purposely created the situation in order to test the clone against the original. And that in turn meant that whoever these people were, they had enough resources to waste a clone. Kasumi shuddered, and that probably meant that there were more clones of her out there. Feeling horrible, Kasumi exited the building.

:3

Hearing the door open, Ranma turned around and, for a moment, all his attention was on Kasumi. Bayman launched himself at Ranma's exposed back and wrapped himself around the pig-tailed boy, twisting him into a pose which was not only excruciating but left him with no leverage. "Never turn your back on your opponent boy."

"Ranma!" Kasumi cried.

"Don't interfere," Ranma gasped. "I can take this guy."

"You've lost boy. Give up. Right now, out of respect for your prowess, I'm not doing any lasting damage but that could easily be changed…" Bayman threatened twisting Ranma's arm painfully.

"Don't…don't count me out of the fight just yet. Mouko Takabisha!" A white beam lanced out from one of Ranma's hands and pierced the ground. Ranma quickly moved it along until he hit pay dirt. A stream of cold water jettisoned out of the ground and drenched the entangled fighters. The adjusted width and length of Ranma's limbs allowed her to escape Bayman's hold. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Ranma elbowed Bayman in the stomach a couple of hundred times to make sure he wouldn't be getting back up. Ranma stepped away for the downed Russian and out of the stream of cold water and noticed that Kasumi was staring at him in shock.

"Ranma? Is that you!?"

:3

"That's quite the story Miss Tendo," Ein said.

Teary eyed, Akane looked at him and growled, "What do you mean 'that's quite a story'? Were you listening, _I broke her arm_! And I had to cheat to do that much!"

"Well, what you did was horrible but the fact that you're sorry does tell me that you're not a bad person. I think—" The sound of a telephone ringing interrupted him. Ein picked up the telephone and said, "Yes?"

After a moment he nodded and said, "I see. I'll be right down." He looked at Akane and said, "You can stay here if you want, I should be back in a little while."

Akane stood up and said, "Can I come with you?"

"Why?"

Akane blushed and said, "I don't really feel like being alone right now…" Ein chuckled. "H-hey, don't make fun of me," Akane said, her lower lip trembling.

"Sorry. Come on then."

They made their way to the lobby where an older Chinese gentleman greeted them. He bowed low and said, "My name is Gen Fu, and I have the honor of being your opponent in the second round of the Dead or Alive tournament."

Ein returned the bow and said, "Ein, and the pleasure is all mine." He gestured towards Akane and said, "This is my friend Akane Tendo. She'll be watching our fight if you don't mind."

Gen Fu looked taken aback but only said, "If you'll follow me, I think I have a good place for our fight to take place without risking too much collateral damage."

They made their way down the back streets of Kyoto and Akane noticed that the sun was rising, 'Has it already been that long since my fight with Ukyo?' Thinking of Ukyo brought a deluge of feelings but fortunately she was distracted as they had arrived at the place Gen Fu had decided the bout was to take place. The battlefield was a fairly large field that was just outside the city.

"Yeah, this'll do fine," Ein said.

"I'm glad you agree," Gen Fu said, taking up a stance. Ein didn't adopt a stance but stood nonchalantly a few feet away from the old man. After it was clear that Ein wasn't going to make a move, Gen Fu threw a vicious punch aimed straight for Ein's face. Ein casually leaned to the side to avoid the punch but Gen Fu surprised both Ein and Akane by arresting his momentum and chopping sideways. Ein was hit full in the face and knocked to the ground. He wasn't out of the fight yet however; as soon as he hit the ground, he hooked the back of Gen Fu's knee with his foot and jerked him off his feet. Gen Fu hit the ground hard and was stunned for a moment. Ein used this opportunity to somersault back to his feet.

Ein looked considerably more wary as Gen Fu got to his feet, and this time he led the attack. He leapt into the air and delivered a jump kick that was followed by a roundhouse. Amazingly, Gen Fu managed to land a brutal punch even as the roundhouse sent him flying. Ein and Gen Fu flew away from each other; Ein managed to get his feet under him but as soon as he touched ground he dropped to one knee, clutching his chest. Gen Fu was not so lucky; he hit the ground shoulder first and rolled a few times before he came to a halt.

Ein, struggled to his feet, swiped at the blood that was leaking from his mouth and said, "You're an amazing fighter old man but I think it's time you gave up."

Somehow, the old man hauled himself to his feet shouting, "I can't lose! If I lose, May Lin dies!"

Ein stopped his attack and said, "Who is May Lin?"

"My granddaughter. She is ill, and I do not have the money needed for her to get proper treatment. I was promised that if I win this tournament, I would not only get enough money to treat her, but a panacea that may cure her illness."

"I see." Ein seemed to consider something for a moment and then he said, "Gen Fu, I have a proposition for you."

"Yeah?" Gen Fu said guardedly.

"I think you should be a little more polite, considering that I could end this fight right now if I felt like it."

Gen Fu looked angry for a moment but then he sighed, sat down and said, "Point taken. Please, go on."

"Here's the deal, if I win the tournament, I'll give you the panacea and all the prize money I can spare but in return, I want you to train my friend over there." Ein said, pointing at Akane.

"What!?" Akane gasped.

Gen Fu, looked at for a moment and said, "Absolutely not. I have decided not to pass on my incredibly dangerous martial art. Besides, if I was going to pass it on, it certainly wouldn't be to a person so obviously lacking in control."

"Excuse me!? Listen here you old coot—" Ein held up a hand and cutting Akane off.

"Fine, don't teach her your style, but you are right, she needs to learn control. That is what I want you to teach her."

Gen Fu considered for a moment and finally growled, "Fine."

Akane spoke up, "I haven't agreed to this yet!"

Ein looked at her, "You want to learn control right?"

"Well, yeah—"

"And you told your father you didn't know when you'd be home."

"Yes, but—"

"Then that's all there is to it. But before you get training, there is something even more important you must do…"

Author's Notes

Keep those reviews a comin'! And I still do not have a pre-reader, so there is no one to edit my story before hand, and I am a horrible editor when proof reading my own stuff. If you're interested in the job, drop me a line at Thanks for reading!

Kuragari no Oshiego


	5. Round Two, Part Two

"What!?" Akane squealed.

"That's right. You must make amends with Kounji," Ein said sagely.

"But I don't even know where she is! And she'll kill me the first second she sees me!"

"I think you're exaggerating," Ein sighed. "And as for where she is, I'm guessing that since you broke her arm she'll be at the hospital nearest to where you fought."

"B-but…"

"Look Akane, do you want Gen Fu to train you or not?"

"Yes…"

"Well then you need to get rid or the guilt you feel or you'll never be able to concentrate on your training."

"But I don't think I can face Ukyo yet…"

Ein shrugged and turned his back on Akane. "Fine. But I won't hold Gen Fu to our agreement if you do not…"

"What about his granddaughter?"

"I guess she's out of luck…" Gen Fu started to protest but a wink from Ein kept him quiet.

"I guess I don't have a choice then…"

Ein clapped his hands. "Great. Now when you're finished meet us at my hotel. I'll give you some directions…"

:3

Ranma wiped the water from her eyes and blushing said, "Yup, it's me."

"H-how?" Kasumi asked.

"It's a funny story: me and my pop where training in China when we found this training spot only it was full of pools where if you fall into them you turn into something that drowned there thousands of years ago."

Ranma stopped to take a breath and Kasumi asked, "So you turn into a girl? Or a boy?"

Her blush intensifying, Ranma waved her arms and shouted, "I'm a guy!"

"Okay…" Kasumi nodded her head thoughtfully.

"You seem to be taking this well…" Ranma said, curious.

"Well, shape shifting is a ninja art so I've seen magic turn people into different things. I was just surprised…"

"Oh. Well, anyway, I turn into my cursed form when I'm hit with cold water and I turn back with hot water."

"'Cursed'? Seems to have helped you out just a second ago."

Ranma rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, it can come in handy but it causes a lot of problems too…"

"Like what?"

"Well…" Ranma shook her head. "Wait just a second here. Let's talk about you for a while. Like about what happened at the hospital."

"Hospital?" Kasumi asked, confused.

"Yeah, you completely ignored me. And you had sort of a weird look in your eyes…"

"I have no idea what your taliking about..." She trailed of thoughtfully. Than she gasped, "Oh! Was it just a little while ago?"

"Yeah…"

Kasumi waved Ranma to follow her. "I think you should see something." They walked back into the building and Kasumi lead Ranma to the where clone lay on the floor in a pool of its own blood.

Ranma gasped in horror, "What the hell!?"

"That is a clone of me that I killed and it's also probably what you saw at the hospital," Kasumi said frankly. Ranma took a shuttering breath and quickly walked out of the building. "Ranma? Hey wait!" Kasumi chased after Ranma and saw her just outside the door taking deep breaths.

"S-sorry. I've never seen something like that before."

"Oh, poor baby!" A figure vaulted down from the rooftops and landed a few feet away from Kasumi and Ranma. "What kind of weak-stomached losers have you taken to hanging out with Kasumi?"

"Ayane!"

"Correct! Here to kill the traitor to the Mugen Tenshin Clan," she said gleefully.

"Ayane, you of all people should know why I did what I did. I'm not a traitor."

Ayane's face suddenly turned savage. "Oh I know why you did it! The perfect little princess just had to get revenge on someone who dared to steal the secret family technique. You spoiled brat! You turned your back on responsibility so that you could be the 'hero.' Too bad it backfired."

"Ayane, you must believe me, that's not the right of it—"

"Shut up!" Ayane leaped into the air and twisted into a jump kick. Kasumi jumped to the side to avoid the kick and brought her hands up into a guard.

"Kasumi!" Ranma shouted.

"It's your turn not to interfere Ranma."

"This is clan business, little girl," Ayane snarled as leapt into her new attack.

Kasumi dodged or blocked Ayane's attacks and pleaded, "Please Ayane, I don't want to fight!"

Ayane halted her attack and, jumping backwards a few feet, said, "I don't care whether you fight or not. You'll die either way." Ayane started to chant and a purple aura started to materialize around her.

"Kasumi! Look out!" Ranma shouted but Kasumi just closed her eyes and stood her ground. Ayane lifted up her hands and a huge energy blast shot from them. Kasumi seemed unconcerned, however, and a white light surrounded her. The blast simply washed around Kasumi without even touching her.

She opened her eyes and said sadly, "Ayane, you know that Hajin Mon can never beat Tenjin Mon."

Ayane let out an inarticulate scream and charged at Kasumi. This time Kasumi didn't just dodge. She leapt over the punch thrown at her by Ayane and kicked her in the face. Ayane stumbled back, bleeding from her nose. Kasumi stalked towards her and said, "I didn't want to fight you, but if violence is the only thing you understand…" Kasumi caught Ayane's hand as it streaked towards her face and backhanded her across the face. "…then violence…" punch "…is what…" punch "…you'll get!" Kasumi punctuated her speech with a roundhouse that sent Ayane crashing through the wall of the clone facility.

As Kasumi went over to check Ayane's vital signs Ranma said, "Wow, once you got serious you ended that fight pretty easily."

"She wasted too much energy on that last attack thinking that if she used enough power it would overcome my defenses. Usually, me and Ayane are more evenly matched. Luckily, she let herself get angry."

"Oh," Ranma said, a little surprised by her directness. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Shouldn't we take her to a hospital or something?"

"No, she doesn't like doctors. She'll me up and around in a few hours, anyhow."

"Speaking of that, how come you didn't want to see a doctor after I found you?"

"Collateral damage. I didn't want a bunch of ninja's attacking a hospital."

"Okay, so how about you tell me why there are a bunch of ninja's after you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Why not?"

"I don't want you to get involved."

"'Get involved'?" Ranma said incredulously. "Let's see. I saved you from one ninja, then almost died protecting you from more. You get kidnapped and I rush here to Kyoto to save you! I find you, only it's not really you, it's a clone! A clone that I know you killed. What's not to get involved in!?" Kasumi winced and Ranma stopped shouting at her. She sighed and said, "Sorry. This is just so crazy. I haven't slept for almost two days."

"No, you're right. You've done so much for me, the least you deserve is the truth. Let's just get out of here first. I don't want to be around when Ayane wakes up.

:3

Akane took a deep breath and walked into the hospital. She immediately spotted Ukyo reading a magazine in the waiting lounge. She hesitated for a moment when she saw the cast and eye-patch and before she could think of something to say, Ukyo saw her.

"Akane!" She stood up and growled, "You've got a lot of guts coming here!"

Akane held up her hands in front of her and said, "Ukyo I didn't come here to fight."

"Well a fight's what you're going to get!"

"I-I came here to…apologize."

"What!?"

"I came here to apologize."

"You think an apology can fix this!?" She pointed at her arm. "Or this!?" she screamed pointing at her eye. "The doctor says you may have caused permanent damage to my eye!"

"I-I know…" Akane dropped to her knees and bowed low. "Tell me! What can I do to fix this?"

Ukyo sat back down. "Wow, you're serious about this…"

"I'll do anything."

Ukyo rubbed her chin and said, "I could have you work as my cook until my arm was fixed…but what if someone sues me for food poisoning?"

Akane blushed and said, "Shut up!"

Ukyo waved a finger in front of her face and said, "That's not being very apologetic. Honestly, I don't know why Ranma puts up with…you…" She gasped and then smiled. "Okay, Akane, if you truly want to make up for injuring me like this, then end your engagement with Ranma."

Akane spluttered, "W-what!?"

"Break it off with Ranma."

"But Ukyo!"

"Why do you care? You've said it yourself that you don't want to marry him. Now you've got a legitimate excuse to end the engagement," Ukyo said triumphantly.

"I-I…"

Fortunately for Akane, their conversation was interrupted when a tall man clad in a black leather ninja suit walked into the hospital and said, "I am looking for Ukyo Kounji."

"That'd be me," Ukyo said lifting up a hand.

"You do not look like somebody who _won_ the last round," the ninja stated.

"I won!?" Ukyo gasped. "Maybe they thought that you forfeited by running away before I was finished."

"At any rate," the ninja continued. "I am Hayabusa and I am your next opponent if you think you are up to fighting me."

"Of course," Ukyo said standing up.

"What!? You're going to fight!?" Akane said in disbelief.

"Akane, you are a pathetic martial artist," Ukyo said disdainfully. "Think about my proposal," she added as she left the hospital.

Akane got up and followed Ukyo and Hayabusa into the park outside the hospital where they had apparently decided to fight. Hayabusa held up one hand a then put it behind his back. "In order to make this fight a little fairer, I'll only fight with one hand."

"How generous of you." Ukyo charged and threw a chop at Hayabusa's head. He ducked it but Ukyo kneed him in the chin. He staggered backwards but blocked Ukyo's next kick easily. Hayabusa countered with a kick that caught Ukyo in the ribs. He then spun around her and elbowed her in the back. Ukyo automatically tried to catch herself with her hands and she screamed in pain when her broken arm hit the ground.

"I think you better give up," Hayabusa said.

"Like hell I will," Ukyo said, struggling to her feet, tears streaming down her face. She attacked with such ferocity that Hayabusa had to focus on blocking and dodging. So intent was Hayabusa on finding an opportunity to counter that he forgot his promise not to use his left arm and brought it out from behind his back to land a devastating uppercut.

Defying all logic, Ukyo managed to land on her feet. She smiled a bloody smile and said, "Guess you had to use your other hand after all."

Hayabusa started and then laughed and said, "You're very good, Kounji."

Akane noticed that that blood was streaming out of Ukyo's cast and her legs were trembling with the effort it took for her to remain on her feet. "Stop! Can't you see that Ukyo can barely stand!?"

"Butt out Akane!" Ukyo yelled.

"Of course I can. In fact, I am impressed she can stand at all," Hayabusa said.

"So you'll stop fighting?" Akane sighed in relief.

"No."

"What!? How can you be so cruel!?"

"On the contrary, I am giving her exactly what she wants."

"Not that you'd understand," Ukyo said with contempt. "Let's finish this."

"Of course."

:3

Shampoo skidded to a halt in front of Cologne (who was sitting atop the unconscious form of Kuno) and lay still. Jann Lee prudently stayed in a fighting stance for a few seconds more as Shampoo had gotten up from seemingly finishing attacks numerous times during the match. This time, however, she did not get up. Cologne sighed, "Well this certainly complicates things."

Author's Notes

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review. :)


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